How far to ride in a day???

[old git]

Now I know there will be those worriors that have done 300 -400 - 900 miles in a day, butt (!!) thats not the question.
Am gona sort a long weekend away, next month (July), Friday afternoon to say Tuesday evening.
Work in Hereford, so thinking across thought some of Wales, up towards the lakes & round.
Now, here's the trick I could do 300 miles a day IF I had to, but what do the gliterartie on here think is a nice comfortable mileage per day to plan based on twistie A & B roads, not gona do any motorways.
I am gona plan a route & book hostels or camping barns in advance for each of the 4 nights.
I am thinking maybe 150 miles a day??? would be interested to see if peeps think this is to much / to little or whatever.

Thanks,

[fastasfcuk]

for me what i would'nt want to do is after ride all day,bed and up next morning to ride again.so for me just enough miles under your belt and enough time to chill out and a few beers.

[Aladinsaneuk]

do a session in the morning for 100 to 120 miles - ie almost a tank, then another in the afternoon.... i would aim at 200 to 250 miles per day

[D-Rider]

I'd ride as far as the destination.
One mile less doesn't really work out that well.

TBH I'm not really sure and what one chap finds easy will be a real effort for someone else .... and even that same person will vary depending on how much they've ridden in the preceding weeks or how they've knackered themself the previous day.

Since my off last year my ribs start becoming quite painful after about 50 miles - even after 30 miles on a very cold day at the beginning of spring - though on the club Aprilia jaunt last weekend they were completely fine (unlike the Newark trip the week before).

Think you are going to have to find out for yourself.
I'd agree with Ian that I'd prefer not to spend the whole day riding but stop and see some places on the way and chill a bit at the end of the day.

[MartDude]

If you're not used to long distances, build up to it - it can be more mentally taxing than you might think. Try, say, 100 - 150 miles one Saturday, then the same the next day, and see how you feel, mentally as well as physically. If you feel yourself getting tired, have a break and a bite to eat, and a drink; I usually take a bottle of water and a snack ( e.g. flapjacks), in case I feel peckish between caffs. In fact, it's a good idea to try to plan your journey around watering & p*ssing holes.

You also need to be aware of the endurance of your bladder and bowels; as the years advance, bladder stamina seems to diminish. Coffee doesn't help here.

You'll be more aware than anybody of the limits of your body's weak spots, e.g. aching wrists or back; take that into consideration too.

Have a good trip, take some pics, and tell us all about it afterwards.

Cheers!

[Samray]

That's deffo a 'how long is a piece of string' question but there have been some good pointers here.
It is such a personal thing you need to try an easy to abort round trip in the meantime to see what you are comfortable with.
Allow time for plenty of stops (and getting lost ).

[DavShill]

My preference is about 200 miles. It means you have to refill once but it's good distance with plenty of stop off and refreshement time. It means you're not pressing on relentlessly to the next destination. I've done trips when we've crunched 350 to 400 miles and it really does become a drag IMHO especially if the weather turns against you.

[herbacious]

yeah around 200 though it really depends on the roads - you can munch miles a lot faster cruising on smooth A roads at 100 than you can scratching through single track B roads

Im going to have to do a Bradford to Portsmouth blast soon which I'm not looking forward to - about 270 miles but motorways all the way unless I can plan a more interesting route..

the problem is that with 270 miles to do and a strict deadline (catching a ferry) I don't want to waste time

once we are past that though im intending to do 2-300 mile days but split into an early morning blast - long lunch time chill out and then another afternoon blast

[old git]

OK chaps, thanks for the feedback, sounds like my 100-150 mile plan is in the right ballpark then.
So route sorted, accommodation picked, will book tomorrow.
Snowdonia, Lancashire, Lakes, Lancashire again ( hope they have good beer) & Worcester.
Sounds like a plan.
If I don't go off piste to far, looking at around 700 miles.

Thanks again,

[snapdragon]

Lancashire does have good beer

[rick]

I did 270 miles today no problems, and could do the same tomorrow, provided the roads were good enough :)

[Nooj]

When touring Europe with Debz we seem to average 250 miles a day. That's hitting the road about 10am, having a couple of stops and flopping in the next hotel at about 7 or 8pm. Leaves time for a pizza and few beers while deciding the next day's route, then a good night's sleep and an easy start in the morning.

It's surprising what difference and extra 30 or 40 miles can make to your tiredness levels, getting close to 300 miles becomes a real slog. I've done a couple of 500 mile days before and was glad of a day off afterwards.

[FlyingKiwi]

My usual day out is a 160 mile round trip through Snowdonia. The actual riding takes about 4 hrs so I reckon you'll get closer to 200 a day.
When in Europe though we travel more to time. Usually about 6-7 hrs including a break. That works out about 200-250 in the Alps and as much a 450ish on the French motorways

[Willopotomas]

I've just come back from a trip to Jersey.. Which is around 170 miles. The trip down was ok, and felt like I could do more, but the trip back was a bit of a drag. Bad bank holiday traffic mixed with the weekend's partying tiredness was getting a bit boring by the time I hit Oxford. So I suppose it's more to do with traffic conditions and if you've had a good nights kip or not. The bike also helps.. Make sure you're comfy enough and are not constantly adjusting clothing or luggage. A jacket that keeps riding up ye back is a real pain and will annoy you to the point of shouting at it..lol..

[loopie2]

depends on what your body is telling you, as one guy mentioned his ribs start, my shoulder and knees start after 2hrs non stop riding.
my rule of thumb is 2 tanks on the motorways with a 15min break between or 2 tanks on twisties with an hour break between, this will not anger the grapes of wrath and have me looking forward to the next days riding